


The Small Job

by midnightseashell14



Category: Young Avengers (Comics)
Genre: High Warlock and Dragon AU, M/M, Tommy Shepard mention, YoungAvengersHE2k17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 18:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13300719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightseashell14/pseuds/midnightseashell14
Summary: Billy is a High Warlock who has taken on a small job to help a village in distress, but it turns out that this job includes facing a dragon! It doesn't help that the dragon also happens to be super cute. This was part of the Young Avengers Holiday Exchange on tumblr moderated by phoenixyfriend. This is my gift to katie-altman and I hope that they enjoy it!





	The Small Job

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of the Young Avengers Holiday Exchange which was moderated by pheonixyfriend. This is my gift to katie-altman and I hope that they enjoy it! Check out the YoungAvengersHE2k17 tag on tumblr to see some amazing artwork and fics!

Billy stopped right in front of the town sign that had obviously seen better days. 

It was silly but sometimes there are objects that look so beaten and broken down that as a human being you couldn’t help but feel some sort of loss or sense of compassion for the object.

This was one of those times. The sign was probably white at some point, as far as Billy could tell from the bits that peeked through the thick tangle of moss and vines that covered almost every inch of the surface. It was incredibly lopsided, with half of it sinking into the damp ground, and pieces had clearly been torn off.

Billy turned both ways before giving the sign a small pat, almost as if was a small animal. 

“It’s okay”. 

A small blue spark erupted from Billy’s fingertips and the sign looked completely new. The sinking leg was now at proper level and all the moss had fallen off. The sign itself vibrated a new sense of energy and vitality. 

Well let’s hope the actual job is as easy as this, Billy thought to himself. He continued to make his way into the village, noticing that despite what the sign suggested it was actually pretty nice, and the townspeople obviously took care of their homes.

It didn’t help ease his confusion however. Many little town asked for his help in sprucing things up. Making it look more inviting in order to attract travelers. 

And even though Tommy liked to tease him about using his powers on such little jobs that weren't really worth it, Billy enjoyed doing it. Sure it wasn’t anything big, and as a high warlock it didn’t come close to what he was capable of, but he liked that he was helping people. Yeah, it didn’t pay much but these people were always kind to him and appreciated his help more than rich lords who just wanted castles more grand than their neighbors so that they could boast about it. No, Billy delighted in these small jobs much more than anything else.

But still this town looked pretty okay. He didn’t see why they would ask for someone of his skill level if all they needed were a few small level spells. But he was soon brought out of his reverie by a loud shrill shout.

“Sir! Excuse me sir! Are you the high warlock?”, an older woman yelled at him from her front porch. At her yells people had begun to stick their necks out to see what was happening.

“Yes I am. Do you know who I can talk to about the job?” Billy watched in slight fascination as all at once a flood of people covered the previously empty streets. This had happened many times over his career, but he would never get over just how quick it was. 

A relatively handsome young man made his way through the crowd. He must have been the mayor or some other authority figure as the people parted for him with little fuss. He stopped in front of Billy and stuck out his hand. His grip was firm and his face was incredibly serious. It made Billy a little worried if he was honest.

“Hello I’m Eli, I’m kind of the go to guy around here. Thanks for coming so quickly.” The man now known as Eli said as he released Billy’s hand. It actually stung a bit and if Billy wasn’t slightly intimidated by Eli he might have been attracted to him.

“Of course, now what do you need my help with”. 

“A dragon”.

Billy blinked once then twice and one more time for good measure. He almost slapped himself for just standing there like a blank faced idiot, but he couldn’t help himself. He finally managed to recover and cleared his throat hoping it would make him look like less of an idiot.

“I’m sorry but did you say dragon?”

“Yes I did”. The serious look hadn’t left Eli’s face. Billy took another cursory look around the town, which as he thought before seemed in pretty good shape. As if sensing Billy’s thoughts Eli made to explain.

He hasn’t attacked us or anything, he doesn’t seem particularly violent or bloodthirsty. The issue is that he’s taking all of our cows”. Now that had Billy’s attention, a dragon that wasn’t bloodthirsty, that was strange. Thankfully Eli continued.

“You can probably tell but we farm a lot here because of the soil. Our main food source is our cows and we survive on that pretty well, but winter is coming and if this dragon keeps eating our livestock we’re not going to be able to survive the winter”.

“I can see the issue. But you said that he doesn’t seem particularly bloodthirsty or malicious?” Eli shrugged.

“Not from what we’ve seen. He never attacks us or the village. He just swoops in picks up a cow and flies off. We hired you because we felt safer not taking any chances. It would be crazy to send anyone with less magic experience in there”. Billy nodded.

“Yes, I agree. Now where is the dragon’s lair?”

Eli turned and pointed to a large mountain covered in grass but strangely no trees, even though the rest of the area was clearly woodlands.

“He lives inside that mountain. It’s actually hollow inside, so I would imagine he’s real cozy in there”. 

“Thank you. I guess I’d better be on my way then”.

Eli looked surprised.

“Right now? Are you sure you don’t want to rest first?” 

Billy shrugged. “The trip wasn’t long and it’s better to get this over with quickly before he decides to take another cow. Besides witht the way you describe him I might even be able to reason with him”.

“Well if you say so”. Eli still looked skeptical but he shook Billy’s hand one more time, before Billy began the walk towards the mountain. The townspeople’s cries of encouragement echoing behind him. He hoped that those calls of luck would be enough to help him.

 

Billy was starting to think that he made the wrong decision earlier. The woods were more densely packed than he had realized and the trail had become overgrown with roots and fallen branches. He was almost tempted to just fly up to the mountain. But that would be a useless waste of energy that he might have to use fighting against the dragon. 

Thankfully Billy was almost there, he could just see the mouth of the cave through the trees. 

Moving closer Billy could only hope that he knew just what he’d gotten himself into.

 

It was a few minutes of twists and turns before Billy found the inner chamber. Billy had used his magic to give him some light as he walked through the tunnels. He was surprised that he didn’t need it once he got to the chamber, as there were several holes running through the rock, letting in just enough sunlight to make Billy’s magic unnecessary.

He still hadn’t fully entered in yet though. He was a fully capable High Warlock sure but a dragon was no laughing matter. 

“I know that you’re there. C’mon out”. Billy nearly jumped out of his skin. 

“Look just come over here. I promise that I won’t hurt you whoever you are!” Strangely enough Billy felt his legs moving as he stepped into the chamber. He didn’t know exactly what made him do such a stupid thing but he could have sworn that the dragon had sounded… lonely.

As Billy’s legs carried him further into the room he heard more than felt his gasp. The dragon was staring directly at him. His scales were green and shining even in the low amount of light. His teeth were so sharp and long that they actually stuck out of his mouth. But it was the eyes that pushed the air out of Billy’s lungs.

The eyes were a beautiful shade of blue, as bright as a summer sky. And just as he had heard in the dragon’s voice before, they looked lonely. Billy pulled his gaze away from the dragon’s eyes just in time to catch what could have been a smile. 

A smiling dragon, what’re the odds, Billy thought.

Billy got as close as he felt comfortable with, which would still b considered by many to be far too close, but Billy knew that at this distance he would still be able to summon his magic in time, so why not get as close as he could. Even through his fear he was still a huge nerd after all and it wasn’t often that someone ever saw a dragon this close and wasn’t eaten.

Billy took in a deep breath through his nose and hoped that his voice would come out sounding as sure as he hoped.

“Hello there. My name is Billy Kaplan High Warlock”. That seemed to have caught the dragon’s interest quite a bit.

“A high warlock huh. I never thought I’d ever meet one. Your powers must be super cool”. The dragon looked almost excited at the news. Billy felt his face get a little hot and scolded himself. 

You are not blushing because a freaking dragon complimented you! Billy cleared his throat and tried to ignore the continuing heat in his cheeks.

“Um well yeah they are pretty cool, at least I think so. But look I came here for a serious matter”. The dragon seemed to slump down onto himself, he actually looked sad. Billy almost felt like he should give him a reassuring pat or something.

“Let me guess you’re here to kill me for some reason? Look I don’t really know what it is I did but can we try talking it out instead?”

“Uh well yeah that was my plan. I don’t really want to fight you if I can avoid it”. That seemed to make the dragon happy as he visibly perked up and was doing that weird kinda smile thing again. 

“Oh great! So what was the thing I did that got the attention of someone like you?”

“Well the town just at the end of the woods isn’t crazy about you eating all of their cows. They rely on those cows for income and feeding their village, especially during the winter. If you keep stealing their cows they're not going to be able to survive”.

Now the dragon looked guilty. Billy had had no idea that dragon faces could be so expressive. It was actually kind of cute. He felt his face heating up again and if he wasn’t in front of a dragon that he was trying to negotiate with he would have slapped himself in the face. Now was not the time!

“I’m sorry I had no idea. I really thought that they had enough, I mean I’ve been trying to cut back as much as I can in this form”.

“Wait I’m sorry this form?” Now the dragon looked as if someone had caught him trying to steal from the cookie jar.

“Well I mean… I just meant, uh… well you see I… I … oh what's the point. You said you weren’t going to kill me and I’m tired of being stuck like this. Just uh give me a second”.

The dragon ducked behind a large rock formation that didn’t quite hide his large body. But then he started to shrink. Billy couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He heard some rustling and a few grunting noises before a voice that sounded remarkably similar to the dragon’s, minus the rumbling and deeper pitch, ring out. 

“Okay I’m coming out”. 

It was at this point that Billy’s face really did start to heat up. He was pretty sure that he was entirely red at this point. Because somehow the dragon had turned into the hottest guy he had ever seen. The dragon walked forward until he was in front of Billy, then he chuckled awkwardly and lifted one hand above his head. Crap he was cute too!

“So um my names Teddy and um… hi”.

“Um hi. So uh are you actually a dragon or under a curse or… help me out a bit here my mind's racing”. Teddy as he now knew him, shrugged and smiled apologetically.

“Sorry I’m not even sure. My mom would always say that she would tell me why I could shift when I was older but she passed away before that happened”.

“Oh I’m so sorry. That must have been hard”. 

“Yeah we were kind of the village outcasts so it was hard to support myself after she passed. After a while it just became easier to go around as a dragon. I mean it was lonely but getting food was so much easier”. Now that he had brought it up Billy was reminded why he was there in the first place. 

“Yeah so about the village-” 

“Oh god yeah I’m so sorry about that! I promise I’ll stop taking their cows!” Teddy cut him off blushing brightly and looking keenly quilty.

He really is sweet, Billy thought and he couldn’t even find it in him to reproach himself this time. Teddy sighed looking upset.

“I guess it was time I left here anyway. I was getting a little too comfortable”. He was trying to joke but Billy could see the sadness on his face. It must have been hard, not having a home or someone to come back too.

“Maybe you could come with me?” Billy could not believe the words that had just left his mouth. By the look on Teddy’s face he couldn’t either. 

“What really?” Billy scratched the back of his neck and shuffled his feet, while trying to hide his red face.  
“Well I mean yeah. You would have to put up with my annoying brother and his fiance but we all make enough money between us. His fiance is loaded actually so money really isn’t a problem. And I am a high warlock so I could take more expensive jobs if I had to”.

“Really you mean it?” Teddy looked so hopefully it almost broke Billy’s heart.

“Yeah I mean it. Although I do warn you that my brother has a habit of being obnoxious”.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad. I mean is he as cute as you?” Billy almost swallowed his tongue and he could tell that Teddy hadn’t meant to say the last part out loud by the way he was starting to resemble a tomato.

“Well I mean we’re identical twins but I think that I’m the cuter one”. 

Now they were both just smiling and blushing at each other like two idiots. Tommy was never going to let him live this down. Billy cleared his throat.

“So um let’s get going shall we?”

“Yeah. That sounds great”. 

As the made their way out the cave talking about nothing and everything Billy though that it would be worth it, even if Tommy teased him relentlessly once he got back. 

At the very least, Billy thought as he caught sight of Teddy’s wide smile, he wouldn’t be able to say that small jobs weren’t worth it anymore.


End file.
